Fact check: Are cats being sold inside of jars?

Are there really “Bonsai kittens”?

Some claim that “bonsai cats” – that is, cats that are being squeezed into jars or bottles to stay there for the rest of their lives – are being sold.

To calm you down:

Fortunately, this is a hoax!

It’s actually quite old. In the year 2000 a website called “bonsaikitten.com” claimed to sell these cats in jars. It’s long since gone offline, but the rumor still sometimes finds its way to social media again. Our colleagues from Snopes already debunked it in 2011:

When it was running (the site is no longer active), the Bonsai Kitten web site was a joke, not an actual promotion for the making of bonsai kittens. Investigations by law enforcement agencies, including the FBI, determined no real cats were harmed in the creation of the pictures used on the Bonsai Kitten web site. Signing a petition to shut down the Bonsai Kitten web site will not prevent any kittens from being harmed, because no kittens were harmed in the first place.

It used to be a joke by some students. Even the FBI investigated if it was real, but: It wasn’t of course. Thank god!